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Group: Corporate Social Responsibility

Discussion: The rise of CSR in business education

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Corporate Social Responsibility 28,760 members Member Information and settingsShare group DiscussionsPromotionsJobsSearch Chris Carmody Follow Chris The rise of CSR in business education Manager's Choice Chris Carmody Collaboration Navigator: Guiding skilled teams through uncharted waters 'In little over a decade, businesses have gone from seeing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and environmental stewardship as, at best, desirable add-ons to regarding them as central to strategic planning.' The rise of CSR in business education | Professional Education & MBA Resources | Postgraduate Studies & Higher Education | Education Post Hong Kong educationpost.com.hk In little over a decade, businesses have gone from seeing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and environmental stewardship as, at best, desirable add-ons to regarding them as central to strategic planning. Like (54) Comment (66) Share Unfollow Reply Privately4 months ago Comments masab shamsi, Amir H. Rahdari and 52 others like this 66 comments Jump to most recent comment Melinda Beckett-Maines Melinda Melinda Beckett-Maines ★Senior Level Marketing, PR, Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility★ What a wonderful trend - it's nice to see CSR becoming systemic. Like (3) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Fabrizio D., Fabio Loyola and 1 other like this Claire Thayers Claire Claire Thayers Corporate Social Responsibility Consultant - CSR should be built into every business, and not just a bolt on! Just sharing this for Truro and Cornwall Colleges... Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics Agreed ... it is good to see a trend towards business school education that embraces more than the money profit and stockholder value agenda, but I am afraid that the 'feel good' anecdotes about the trend are rather small compared to the huge component of business education that is all about money profit, stockholder value and GDP growth. I have a passion for metrics because it is only when there are meaningful metrics that there is objective understanding of the issue. I like CSR and advocate for it, but what I see is something that is really tiny compared to the huge power of the established way of doing business analysis and planning. Does anyone have any survey material that shows the curriculum offerings for the old money profit studies versus the better CSR studies and the related student sign up ... not to mention the eventual job placement for students. I would be very interested in seeing such material. Interesting that the article was published in South China ... maybe China will overtake the USA in this field as well. That would be good! Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics. Delete 4 months ago Jorge V., Andrea D. and 1 other like this José Tomás José Tomás Almeida Gestor Casa das Culturas na Câmara Municipal de Oeiras Peter I agree with you. There are still underlying interests about csr advocacy and adoption by companies. The case is when economy is going down(better,not growing) what are the main decisons taken by the ceo's?it's worth to see the data and to think about. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Deborah Olive Deborah Deborah Olive Founder: A World That Works: Spiritually Inspired Social Action Chris, thanks for your post stating the shift in CSR from an 'add-on' to a component central to strategic planning. Peter, I agree with your assessment that meaningful metrics are necessary for an objective understanding of an issue, and I wish I had the data you requested. You've raised excellent questions. Of course, early recognition of trends is often anecdotal. Asking the right questions and reviewing the desired metrics may reveal the sought after data, though it often takes time to generate a sufficient body of data to be persuasive in a relatively new field. Certainly, we seek to uncover as much information as possible from existing information. By its very nature, that data is past based. Those of us with a vested interest in CSR are trendsetters, painting the picture for what's possible in this field 10 years, 20 years and 30 years down the road? I believe it's up to us to create compelling reason(s) for corporate decisions to shift from the short term bottom line results of the next quarter or next fiscal year to include results that are sustainable longer term. It's the early adopters that are generating the metrics and the data to support CSR as central to the strategic planning process. Jose', I suspect that whatever the economy, there will be reasons not to invest in something as tenuous as CSR. With the current focus on short term results, even if the economy were booming, I would expect greed to take over. Decisions would be made with the rationale of having to invest in short term product or service development concurrent with other corporations so as not to miss future opportunities. As CSR professionals, what are the compelling questions we can ask to shape the future of CSR and the way it impacts our world? What are the metrics that support this new direction? And what are the areas we need to develop so CSR is central to strategic planning? Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Susan Scholtz likes this Kamal Mahananda Kamal Kamal Mahananda Asst. Officer at Hindalco Industries Limited (Aditya Birla Group) Its good to see inclusion of CSR in business education, after all the professional would need to work for the CSR in their organization. What will happen professional like me as a social worker completed MSW where we study CSR, Sustaibility, Global Compact, GRI and R&R alongwith Groupwork, Casework, social reserach, social administration but indian companies are not interssted on these topics, they need only gain nd reduction of cost to maximise profit in the financial year Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Kalim Pahala Kalim Kalim Pahala Corporate Account Manager at Quintessentially Well I can tell from my very own experience that CSR is gaining major interest among university students. Before I went for my masters 3 years ago, I have never heard of the term CSR. I ended my studies doing a whole research under CSR and Fairtrade and I am fighting to make some employers realise the value of CSR to a business. Like (2) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Susan Scholtz, Rocio G. like this Ajinder Chawla Ajinder Ajinder Chawla Chairman nova of london Are we ready for corporate social responsibility or it is lip service to funnel funds for different purposes. Lot of Gnuine NGOs can do lot more service to the cummunity if backed by the corporates in thei genuine social corporate responsibility. Let us hope for this to happen. This will be a human face of profit seeking corporates. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Barbara S. likes this Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics My position is that CSR is important, and should be included in MBA education. I also believe that CSR will not have much traction the metrics that dominate the conversation around capital market decision making are changed ... specifically the terrible trio of (1) money profit for business; (2) stock prices for investors; and, (3) GDP growth for policy makers. I am working on an initiative I call TrueValueMetrics (TVM Value Accountancy that addresses the matter of impact on people, place, planet and profit as a result of economic activity. In this framework, the same dataset produces reports about the performance of the organization and the performance of the place (community). The concepts are similar to those used in GAAP money profit accountancy ... but enhanced to be about both money and value. There is a lot of work going on to develop techniques to measure impact, and this is very encouraging. My work complements these initiatives by helping to bring them into the same space that is now occupied by the CFO and money profit accounting. I believe that when we change the way the game is scored, we will change the way the game is played. Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics Delete 4 months ago Rocio G., Thomas V. and 5 others like this Thomas van Haaren Thomas Thomas van Haaren Account Manager at Sedex There's also no reason that this should be limited to MBA programs. CSR can and should be integrated throughout several different academic programs including operations engineering, programming, labor relations, chemistry, etc. Some of the biggest problems in today's supply chain come from toxic chemicals or intense manufacturing pressure because of design changes. It needs to be engendered into the minds of students at all levels to really help promote a cultural of understanding and passion for corporate responsibility. Like (5) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Shikha M., Rocio G. and 3 others like this Yasinda Batangtaris Yasinda Yasinda Batangtaris Psychologist, Assessor, Consultant, Trainer, Lecturer, Auditor at Psychologist in Private Practice so much agree on this idea. degree or non degree, this student should understand and ready to take on assignment on this as this is so much applicable. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Beth Anne Beth Anne Seibel Experienced Marketing & Communications Professional seeking opportunities in Sustainability Management Peter Burgess....if a company participated in the GRI sustainability reporting standards, would these metrics contribute to the information required to report on impact? Curious about your thoughts and anyone else who cares to chime in! Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics Investors and C-level executives make the big decisions based on money profit metrics ... my terrible trio! Some CEO's have a commitment to CSR, but it must be secondary to the money profit metric as long as such metrics dominate the capital markets. In my view, meaningful change will happen when the CFO is required not only to report on the money profit performance under the present GAAP rules, but does business performance reporting with impact on all of these: people, place, planet and profit. I believe this is their order of importance. Optimizing business investment decisions for all of these parameters will get very different results than just optimizing for profit. This is a 'Big Data' challenge ... but it can be done with the amazing capabilities of modern technology, and the tremendous growth of all sorts of knowledge that can be deployed to understand all sorts of things that have been previously hidden. I have followed GRI for quite a long time. I applaud the UN effort, but I consider their reporting approach rather superficial and unlikely to change much in terms of capital market decision making. I would like to see GRI as one important path to better metrics for the corporate community, but I don't think it has got there yet. The good news is that there are many initiatives to measure different aspects of impact. I would like all of these to develop, and then come together into a comprehensive system of business and community metrics that embraces all of the impacts that are critical for a future that is worth a damn! Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics Delete 4 months ago Kim Kieser, Beth Anne S. like this Roman Fedorczuk Roman Roman Fedorczuk President at ABK Sport Marketing Directors Club in Warsaw, Poland is organizing an open discussion on 'CSR in Poland' on September 11, 2013. Please join, if you are in Warsaw. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Shikha Manchanda Shikha Shikha Manchanda Program Assistant at School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University I wish there were as many jobs for new graduates who have studied CSR as there are articles written on this topic. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Dwipal (DK) B. likes this Fabio Loyola Fabio Fabio Loyola HR Professional (Actively Seeking New Opportunities) That's great. Especially, because nowadays it is very common to see just few options available and offering very short duration of the courses but for a very very expensive prices...they called for instance, 'master class'...From my point of view, we need something different at the market, more options, solid quality and affordable costs in order to encourage more people to get involved in this interesting area, supporting by their current companies or even by themselves... Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. It is really good to see that CSR is being included in business education, but I also agree that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, one must always be pleased to see progression! In the UK we have the One Planet MBA at Exeter University which is particularly exciting. http://business-school.exeter.ac.uk/mbaatexeter/oneplanetmba/oneplanetmbaprogramme/ I would like to see these courses becoming the norm rather than the exception. I'm also pleased to say that some of the graduates from this course have also now trained to become Certified ORB Auditors. One of my biggest complaints in terms of business education and the lack of CSR training /awareness relates to business consultants, particular those supporting start ups. So few business consultants understand CSR let alone include any elements in business planning and development when working with their clients. I think all accredited business consultants should take a short course on CSR, particularly if they are providing training that has an element of Government funding attached.. Someone needs to start joining up the dots! Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Fabio Loyola likes this Ravindra Junagade Ravindra Ravindra Junagade Graphologist and Child Rights Activist I would like to mention that corporates have also started understanding that what is good for the community is actually good for the business. So there is a tendency of ensuring that they will not pursue their immediate profit objectives at the cost of long-term interest of society. Thus the nature of CSR activities has changed from mere philanthropy to the overall development of the society. They have started considering the social goals at par with commercial objectives and CSR as a long-term investment. Therefore efforts are being made to merge CSR with core business vision and goals. Policies and operating practices are being formulated that enhance the competitiveness of a firm, while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. Apart from this, today corporates are much more in the social space and under the scrutiny of consumers and the public. It is not just about corporates and their social responsibility, globally people are increasingly becoming conscious and seeking awareness of how the product /services that they consume are created or sourced. While many of you may be aware, but I would like to mention below some major advantages of CSR, which certainly in long term help in enhancing profitability of a firm: - a) Improvement in the economic and social conditions of the community in which the firm operates helps in increasing the consumption of the product as well as it ensures harmonious relations. b) Contributes greatly to enhance Corporate and Brand Image of a company. Hence companies ignoring social responsibilities run the risk of losing market share. c) Many buyers including international retail majors ensure that the suppliers are good corporate citizens and attach premium to it. Particularly in US and European markets, product are sold on the pledge that they are sourced from places where making profit is not the sole motive. d) Many investors consider company’s social performance while making investment decisions. e) CSR can help to boost the employee morale in the organization and create a positive brand-centric corporate culture in the organization. By developing and implementing CSR initiatives, corporates feel contented and proud, and this pride trickles down to their employees. f) Creates a dedicated workforce with high level of self-accomplishment – people who take pride in themselves and their company. It reflects on their productivity at work. g) Encouraging volunteerism in their employees through CSR initiatives or through NGOs, encourages a spirit of volunteerism, boosts morale, builds self-worth and fosters team spirit. The sense of fulfilling a social responsibility leaves with them a feeling of elation. Moreover it serves as a soothing diversion from the mundane work-place routine and gives a feeling of satisfaction and meaning to their lives. Anyone interested in my detailed article on this with particular reference to India and how CSR initiatives can be very effective in addressing the problem of malnourishment in this country, may contact me on email: rjunagade@rediffmail.com Like (5) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Beth Anne S., David W. and 3 others like this Nicole Nicole Dando Head of Projects at Institute of Business Ethics It is important to remember the difference between business ethics (doing business ethically) and CSR (doing ethical things). Requiring an understanding the value of fundamental principles such as integrity, respect, fairness, which we would want to underpin all business behaviour, activity and functions, needs to be part of curriculum. CSR tends to be more siloed even when strategic and genuine. The current economic crisis was due to a lack of ethics rather than CSR. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Susan Scholtz likes this Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. I'm sorry Nicole but I'm afraid I completely disagree with you. I don't think CSR is just about 'doing ethical things.' I believe authentic CSR starts with embedding ethics in the culture of a business i.e. doing business ethically. Unless that genuinely happens CSR doesn't really exist in the company regardless of what label various activites are given. Real CSR isn't just about ethical things and ethical projects - its about how you operate a business on a day to day basis: all those fundamental principles of integrity, respect and fairness you mention, but CSR also extends the approach to include the more proactive aspects of positive social contribution and proactively reducing environmental impacts. Naturally, one would hope that embedding CSR will result in specific projects but that doesn't have to be the case, particularly for small businesses. Ethical business and CSR are intrinsically linked - they should not be treated as separate entities. To do so which will result in completely the wrong approach to CSR. Its the silo mentality which creates the problem and we need to eradicate that approach, not encourage it. Like (2) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Ketill Berg M., Amy Raisbeck Restrepo like this Nicole Nicole Dando Head of Projects at Institute of Business Ethics I don't think we disagree Jill. I was being descriptive rather than prescriptive. It is important to start with values and for responsible business activity to come out of that. I see that that is your approach. At the Institute of Business Ethics we are concerned with the way that business is done. The terminology is important when teaching because in my experience, for many, CSR still can imply those add on projects which address some environmental and social issues - and allow some boxes to be ticked (so I prefer not to use that term when meaning something more holistic - so there we must disagree). In (large) businesses, the CSR team may rarely speak to the ethics/business conduct team. And then there are the sustainability teams, the corporate governance people .... My view is that the most genuine approach is one that starts with values in and from the boardroom. I am sure we agree on that, and I would like business education to focus on that aspect of achieving responsible business. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Jill Poet likes this Lorra Brown Lorra Lorra Brown Graduate Program Director, M.A. Professional Communication at William Paterson University I created a CSR class for both my graduate and undergraduate professional communication and public relations students. Since authentic CSR is essential to an organization's reputation (and its good business!), professional communicators must be part of the CSR process to help ensure all areas of an organization are complying with the companies CSR policies and practices. It has become one of our most popular courses with a waitlist each semester! Like (5) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago lilas kassoumeh, Ketill Berg M. and 3 others like this Gregory Bentle, M.Div. Gregory Gregory Bentle, M.Div. Faculty Member & MBA Graduate Admission's Counselor Spring Arbor University It's an important and necessary trend and great to see it happening across Higher education today. Our MBA program at Spring Arbor University is a values driven approach to education and has an ethical web woven throughout the curriculum including a strong emphasis on Corporations making decisions not just for stockholders, but for what is in morally right and best for society. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. Yes, I think we do actually agree Nicola. Sometimes semantics creates issues that aren't actually there! Like you, when I am training I absolutely stress that it (whether you call it CSR or ethics) must start with values in and from the boardroom. Well actually, as I'm dealing with SMEs, I stress it must start with the business owners / directors. I also don't particularly like the term CSR because of both the corporate connotations and the misuse / misunderstanding of the term, so we always refer to responsible business. But I totally agree, responsible business can only be achieved as a result of embracing an ethical business approach as the starting point. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Nicole Dando likes this Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC EnviroTextiles CSR program can be seen on our website, how my company started our program was seeing needs of the people who lived near my commercial project in Mexico. When I would leave the project to go to my hotel there were many children in the streets when they should be in school. I asked my driver to stop so I could practice my Spanish with the children , I came to find out they were not in school because their families could not afford the uniform that is required to attend primary school. The uniforms cost $40.00 ; which is about what people make a week. MY company is a fraction the size of many other American companies , to set the example I adopted a small community where just one person can make a difference. The children are in school now for just a $40.00 uniform ,plus they all have shoes , paper and pencils. I also taught them not to drink coke cola ,my company purchased blenders for the school for the children to make fruit water from whatever fruit maybe in season. Please note Coke Cola won a cooperate responsibility award but yet the water they own is more expensive then Coke Cola ; Coke also rewards the students with free Coke for good grades in the primary schools! So little can go so far , just stop somewhere on your way back to your hotels.....you will see the needs of the people and places. Like (4) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Ketill Berg M., Shikha M. and 2 others like this Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. Thank you Barbara for sharing this lovely story. A big well done to you and your company. As you say, a little can go so far. And I have to add, I completely agree with your comments about Coca Cola! Not one of my favourite companies as many people who know me will be aware of! Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Susan Scholtz likes this Jessica Gappa Jessica Jessica Gappa Project Manager at FirstPic, Inc Thomas van Haaren - I agree that CSR can stretch beyond business education and also think this is a great way for businesses to take advantage of university research and passion. If teams of students can conduct semester or year long projects for businesses to assist them with their CSR goals and questions, this can be a great way to start building an important CSR foundation at the company that centers on tracking and operational improvements. Additionally, students gain practical knowledge and make a greater impact far beyond achieving a grade. Lots of good things ahead for the students, business, and potentially greater society. Like (2) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Ljiljana Vukosavljevic, Shikha M. like this Ajinder Chawla Ajinder Ajinder Chawla Chairman nova of london Are we talking of CSR in real terms to be in practice as a part of education or another theory to be talked and is taught as pa part of examination to gain the qualification as a degree or diploma and forgotten afterwards when it needs to be applied in practice for the development of the society or funnel the funds of profits by different ways. Let us look at the ethics of corporates before talking of CSR Let us be practical not theorising thee concepts, practise it and see the results and the difficulties in the way, before adding this as another feather in the system of education which fails in day today practice in this corrupt society all over without any ethics to rise over selfishness and take other members of the societ to work togather for the development of society at large (a need of today) Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Kim Kieser likes this Ajinder Chawla Ajinder Ajinder Chawla Chairman nova of london Let us create projects for students to do the for practice and find the hurdles in the. Process of implementing it. Then it should be implemented in industry and see the results before making it a part of course, but donot forget that it becomes a regular feature. And responsibility in the wider world to be practised not another theoretical subject to gain a degree or diploma Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 4 months ago Shokat Khattak, MBA, MACP Shokat Shokat Khattak, MBA, MACP PhD Research Scholar at Xiamen University sorry to say but everybody is questioning the corporate for being responsible. What about those very business institutions that create 'STIFF NECK' CEO's. The factories (Universities) in my humble opinion are merely paying a lip service by limiting themselves to inclusion of a course in ethics or sustainability. Nobody wants to get their hands dirty. Universities have isolated themselves to mental boundaries and 'under the skin belief' still rests on the very philosophy that Pursuit of Self-Interest will eventually result in a healthy Community. See for your self Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Bill Valentino 华威濂 Bill Bill Valentino 华威濂 Co-Chair Foreign Team - Special Policy Study on CSR in Green Development at CCICED) Hi everyone, I have a few trends in the area of education regarding CSR that may add some new ideas to this topic. I am based in Beijing (living and working here since 1987) and after my retirement in 2011 I was invited to start a China Institute for Social Responsibility at Beijing Normal University in the School of Social Development and Public Policy. I have a MPA program that started in 2012 for China Development and Social Responsibility. The first intake of students was in the fall of 2012 and we are now in our second semester of a three-year program for executives. Although this program focuses on Sustainability, CSR, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship the students come from the private, public and civil society sectors in China. What we are trying to do is link Sustainability with Individual Social and Environmental Responsibility then Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and CER (Corporate Environmental Responsibility) to create Mindsets and Design Thinking for a much larger picture. We see the need for conceptual frameworks where all three sectors understand that people, planet and profits are what everyone needs to be thinking about, not just the private sector. My first course for students was 'Strategic CSR' and this semester I am teaching 'Case Studies and CSR'. Perhaps in China where everything has its beginnings in public policy grounded in economics and political thought, it might seem very logical to be doing CSR in a School of Public Policy. But I am observing that the topic of CSR is emerging in Engineering Schools, Schools of Public Health and even Schools of Journalism (I have been teaching also an undergraduate course on 'CSR and the Media' at Tsinghua University's Center for International Communications in the School of Journalism) since 2006. Even though we talk about CSR we often interchange the 'C' between Corporate and China Social Responsibility to create the awareness that in the context of China we are dealing with CSR with Chinese characteristics. This places a lot of emphasis on social and economic stability, which, in addition to environmental (something that China is waking up too at a very fast pace) gives a framework for achieving sustainable growth and development. Not only is CSR showing up in the obvious business circles but also as a tool that guides the invisible hand of government in China in areas such as Green Development and the creation of a Low Carbon Economy, going beyond just laws and regulations to promote a more holistic approach in these goals. CSR is becoming a catalyst for brining analytical, creative, design and conceptual thinking to China in a bigger way along with problem solving and critical thinking. It is more about how to think and not what to think. When we talk about worldviews and understanding cultural diversity we begin to embed ethics into our actions and not just what we perceive as right or wrong. CSR is beginning to take academic theory and put learning into to actions in a real world with real moral dilemmas and problems. I could go on and on about this topic but this is enough for one posting! Cheers! Bill Like (3) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Rogerio R., Ketill Berg M. and 1 other like this Kurt Larsson Kurt Kurt Larsson Communication and Leadership Consultant, Trainer and Coach, Specializing in better Body Language. ExpandingU.com Great comments and great progress! What still seems to be lacking is the simple and conscious connection between each one of our our individual stands for personal integrity and CSR. If we all focused upon educating ourselves and our offspring on defining and applying what we value instead of what we think we desperately need then our individual and collective levels of integrity will rise and... we might no longer need a CSR movement. Wow, what a world that will be... Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Kamal M. likes this Michael Gutman Michael Michael Gutman Founder & CEO at Reach The Future While I was hiring for a few entry level positions in the CSR industry, I got access to a huge talent pool in this space. It looks like the market is being flooded with CSR talent however there are not enough jobs in the space to support all the interest. Ultimately, these new CSR pioneers will get jobs and bring their knowledge into everything they do, transforming the businesses they are in. I think over the next 10 years we will see an influx of start-ups being formed around offering CSR services to large businesses, then once the dust settles these start-ups will die down as CSR will be widely adopted as business as usual. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. That may well be true Michael, but CSR isn't only appropriate for large businesses. The problem is, the majority of CSR consultants have been trained with a corporate perspective and are not able, or not prepared to, change the structure of their consultancy so that they can also offer appropriate services to the smaller business. As I said in an earlier post, it is also important that more generalist business consultants are educated on CSR. After all, real CSR isn't actually an add on but just the way you do business, so it should quickly become the norm. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR M. likes this Kim Kieser Kim Kim Kieser CEO Founder at The SOUL Foundation - WET-Africa Thanks for the interesting and enlightening comments. Ashoka fellow Kim Kieser is establishing a platform on which CSR Investment Companies and Green & Social Innovators are invited to become members of the WET Global Supply Chain and Operations. The WET Platform will enable the growth of green social businesses by providing eco-services and technologies in core business expertise and innovations to the communities of members of the collaboration, each listed as an independent franchise, so that, together, these members can localize their ideas/innovations in underserved communities across Africa and the globe, transforming them into serviced, resilient, green and economically empowered environments. Kim Kieser is the CEO Founder of an NGO called The SOUL Foundation - Save Our Universal Land. Our Model WET-Africa developed since 2008, will enable the creation of Green Economy Communities, one step at a time. The core business of WET is Sustainable Community Development to Green Economy Models. The steps include sustainable energy, water and food security, green building technologies, waterway and environmental management, integrated waste management and waste to productivity systems. Our supply chain members provide innovation, green technologies, knowledge and training,;supporting and growing social entrepreneurial fully equipped business incubators that develop green and sustainable living skills and eco-service providers and distribution networks; providing eco-services to the local community users within communities across the globe. The WET Model steps and systems will generate income, savings, green credits and quality of life for the communities. CSR support from companies kicks off the stepped approach to establishing sustainable community businesses that implement and manage the programs. Overall management The SOUL foundation NGO - contracted to WET- Africa (Pty)Ltd. Phase 1: Launch and entry point. Phase 2: Establish local community businesses - supported and mentored for 12 months. Please contact me with any questions or for more information at kim.kieser@wet-africa.org. You can visit our website www.wet-africa.org Unlike Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Peter Burgess likes this Fidelia Gandiya Fidelia Fidelia Gandiya -- Thank you all very much for the most exciting discussion. I am carrying our research on CSR in my country and this information is of immense help. It's critical to treat CSR not as a or prorate duty or even strategy but as an integral ethical issue Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Ajinder Chawla Ajinder Ajinder Chawla Chairman nova of london Theory and practice should work togather to creat interest in the students and fruitful attainment of education. Gone are the days when thery had to be taught and then put into practice, then to see the results if it works. Education and skills have to work togather to produce results for the society's uplift. Let us move to this phenomena for beenefit of upcoming generation of students. ROKO cancer is trying to work on this style for its employees who want to grasp this kind of practical training visit www.rokocancer.org Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics A good discussion ... and it is to be hoped that there will be more CSR at the core of business education in the future. But from my perspective, there will not be much progress until the conversation about CSR is matched with metrics that are meaningful and capture not only corporate performance as it relates to profit, but also the impact on people, place and planet. If you look at the core of business education, there is a huge component that is about how to do financial analysis that will optimize for profit and for stock price. What about similar analysis about optimizing impact for people, for place ... community, and for planet. This can get quite complex, but it is, in my view, hugely important ... and as long as the subjects of CSR and sustainability are handled only with anecdotes and narrative, they will remain marginalized. Sincerely Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics Delete 3 months ago Kim Kieser likes this Caroline Saunders Caroline Caroline Saunders Senior Food Business Manager at Compassion in World Farming Great discussion! I agree that there must be metrics and I am pleased to highlight that as an organisation we are trying to encourage relevant companies to have a focus on farm animal welfare within their policies and activities throughout the organisation, and to have clear and transparent KPI's that they report on. Take a look to find out more about the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare - www.bbfaw.com - I think you'll find in interesting. Kind regards, Caroline Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Marwa ELZini Marwa Marwa ELZini Communication CSR & Event at Lafarge Algérie Educational issues are essential for human progress, societal development, and the creation of a healthy economic environment. This key status has earned education an international recognition as a driver of long‐term wellbeing of developing countries. Therefore, it is natural that the business community, especially multi‐national companies, should play a part in optimizing the education conditions and lifting poor countries out of illiteracy and an undereducated population. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Diana Berisha Diana Diana Berisha Executive Director at Forum for Civic Initiatives Am looking for a CSR trainer for a two day training session for corporates and local CSO's in Kosovo. Any suggestion? Anybody that I can contact? If yes please email me at berishahere@gmail.com for ToR. Thank you! Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Rogerio Rodrigues Rogerio Rogerio Rodrigues Sustainable Development Researcher and Consultant. Training and Development Manager A great discussion. I have to agree with Peter Burgess that the economic point of view cannot be the only target. We all must understand the impact of production. It also means reflecting the social and the environmental perspectives, and besides that, introducing this knowledge into Small and Medium Enterprises. Although the graduates with this knowledge on CSR does not want jobs in small or medium enterprises, because of the salary or other short career perspectives, they should try to adjust their metrics or knowledge. After all, as the companies grow, swimsuits integrated will be this type of knowledge. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Susan Arnot Heaney Susan Arnot Susan Arnot Heaney Executive Director, Corporate Responsibility at Avon Products, Inc. The younger generation is keenly interested in CSR and sustainability, and it is the responsibility of educational institutions to include this in the curriculum. They need more than just passion -- they need education and guidance. Forward-looking universities are doing so, but it is still not fully accepted in the business schools. The South China Morning Post reported on the trend, as mentioned in my blog posted on CSR Wire today: http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/920-premature-predictions-of-the-death-of-the-csr-profession?utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=CSR+and+sustainability+news Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Gregory Bentle, M.Div. Gregory Gregory Bentle, M.Div. Faculty Member & MBA Graduate Admission's Counselor Spring Arbor University At Spring Arbor University we believe in a 'values driven' MBA program that weaves an ethical thread throughout the curriculum. We not only teach students how to run a profitable business, but how their business should profit the world through corporate social responsibility. It's not just about 'shareholder return'; it's about making a positive return to society as a whole. Like (2) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Jill Poet, Deborah Olive like this Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR Ms Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR Ms Professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia Great idea, because by CSR the companies will have benefits, not only sustainability and profit , but can reduce the possibilities of Human rights violation as well. So many companies were closed just because of these cases , especially in the context of the Indigenous People / Tribes Rights and workers Now , young people / businessmen have to be aware to CSR , and start from the Colleges /Universities , but it's not only college/ school responsibility , but it is our responsibity. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Benedict Sheehy PhD Benedict Benedict Sheehy PhD Associate Professor at RMIT University I'm pleased to see this topic up for discussion. What are your thoughts about how to integrate it into MBA programs? Some schools see it as a separate course whereas others prefer to make it a component of each course. Is it appropriate to make it an either-or option? Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. It's important CSR / Sustainability is at least linked to an MBA rather than being ignored, but as these subjects are (or certainly should be) a fundamental part of business operations, they ideally should be fully integrated at every stage and not treated as an add-on. The One Planet MBA in Exeter in an ideal example of best practice: http://business-school.exeter.ac.uk/mbaatexeter/ Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Michael Gutman Michael Michael Gutman Founder & CEO at Reach The Future Call it what you what you want to call it, but tactics used in running an efficient business are in line with some CSR efforts. Less input > more output > less waste. How are these tactics being labeled in business school? CSR or Business Efficiency? Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC It is a crime companies win CSR awards when they won't consider giving a look at those in need, I have seen Nestles and Coke Cola factories in Mexico win CSR awards, How is it possible when they make the cost of water higher then a bottle of coke ? Their factories look like prisons shut down tight , while staving children wonder the streets , I see no reason why these massive companies can not at least provide shelter and food , job creation build a orphanage. If I alone can purchase paper ,pencils, blenders from teaching the children to collect recyclables this was the beginning of teaching people to fish rather then hand outs. In my evenings I would walk the main roads with a group of children picking up glass, cans, plastic with this collection we made enough money to purchase blenders to teach the children to make fruit water rather then continue to watch children become obese due to coke and corn consumption ; how is it possible a company such as this can win any responsibility aware! Those companies who build factories out of USA for cheaper labor costs and higher profits must give back to the communities in one way or another. Something as simply as metal roofing can change so much for the young people who are our future!!! WE are all children of this one Earth ! It is our cooperate duty to help the communities we work in..... MY company will set the example for what we must provide to create a stronger economy that includes profit sharing and incentives to make a better world..... Like (2) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Jill Poet, Beth Anne S. like this Ajinder Chawla Ajinder Ajinder Chawla Chairman nova of london I fully agree with micheal s comment, there should be emphasis on efficiency than wastage in teaching the corporate social responsibility, even this can take care CSR on the whole.performance and results should be the humming word in the ears of students and the organisation, not it is alright sir. Productivity is the key to success and success of organisation brings a motivation to CSR . Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Kurt Larsson Kurt Kurt Larsson Communication and Leadership Consultant, Trainer and Coach, Specializing in better Body Language. ExpandingU.com Great Stuff Gregory! Values driven must also mean you are distinguishing those fundamentals that we enjoy and give us meaning from those needs that we are constantly reminded of that feel like a black hole than can never be filled. I'd love to hear more as this distinction, for me represents stabilizing this incredibly imbalanced world we currently live in and also represents a fundamental that I value. 'If you don't stand for something you fall for anything'. Unknown Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 months ago Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR M. likes this wander passion wander wander passion self employed If CSR program is working properly and giving headache free education then that is good for all students. But majorly we seen the education style is not being well. The main thing is no one students can bother and stressful mind with education. See I want education style very free. Education is not a business but for country growing with good education. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Peter Burgess Peter Burgess Founder/CEO at TrueValueMetrics @Barbara Filippone made reference to Coca Cola as an example of a company that has done substantial FDI (foreign direct investment) and gets prizes for its CSR while the place surrounding its plants seems to go on just as deeply in poverty as it was before the company arrived. As a former corporate CFO I am aware how powerful data are, and how important it is that they are used in the right manner. CSR is important, but data about CSR are mostly manipulated to help in the marketing of the brand and the PR of the company as a whole. Meaningful data about corporate impact on people, place and planet are rarely available, and where available in even a minimum way, impossible to verify. Typically corporate financial information is produced in a more rigorous way that enables an independent financial audit to take place that validates the reporting. As someone who has worked on assignments in humanitarian crises resulting from drought, I am sensitive to the water issue, and the impact of Coca Cola on water needs to be far better understood, and the company held to account. Coco Cola has delivered great results for its investors over a very long time, but the damage done by the company and its network of bottlers has not yet be computed as far as I know. I would love to see this. Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics Delete 2 months ago Jill Poet likes this boni agung boni boni agung Social Compliance auditor at Social Compliance Service Asia ltd The issue of human rights has increasingly been entering the CSR debate over decade, especially in the context of multinational corporations. 'estimate that over 60% of today business leaders have MBA or have passed through executive business training but the majority of these students have little or not exposure to sustainability in their class' (Giselle:2010). Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC This is a issue of being conscious of our surroundings; first and foremost!! How is it possible for companies such as coke cola to win a CSR award when they make coke cheaper then water , or reward primary school children with coke if they get good grades. Then we have companies such as Nestles who close there eyes to the people in there communities that are starving; rather then make there product affordable once again the children and families can only afford coke cola and GMO corn to eat; this is what is happening in our neighboring country of Mexico! It is the project managers on the ground who must open there eyes to the needs of the community they are working in. Example: I was leaving my project one evening and saw a crippled man making his way somewhere without the use of his legs ;he pulled himself along the ground using is elbows which had old shirts or cloth tied around to protect his elbows. I asked my driver to stop to give him a ride, the next day I purchased a wheel chair and brought it to his home. This is CSR; just open your eyes! Chances are your hotel bill is more then that wheel chair! I don't believe this is something that can be taught in a class room . Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Jill Poet likes this Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC Thank you Peter well said .. I am sorry I do not write or articulate myself as well as you all in this group. Many of my colleagues often tell me that I have worked so long out of USA that my writing is similar to my speaking. I am in no way embarrassed since all of my global projects ask me why they can only understand my English and not others? Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Ravindra Junagade Ravindra Ravindra Junagade Graphologist and Child Rights Activist Nicely stated and I very much appreciate your compassionate act. When the feeling comes from within, one is ready to bear with little momentary inconvenience that such act causes. I too feel that in many companies the CSR is mainly used to enhance company’s image and ultimately the sales. Hence they resort to means of ‘giving’ with an only objective of ‘getting’ something quickly. On the other hand there has to be a long term thinking regarding uplifting of certain population. Such moves may not show quick results, but in long run benefit the society and in turn the company. Further, rather than ‘pity’ there should be compassion in dealing with the things. Regarding this I wish to reproduce below some thinking from Osho: - • “Compassion and Pity” It is the Pity that strengthens the ego whereas compassion dissolves it. Compassion arises only in those who have become egoless. Pity is a means of nourishing the ego. It is a good means, used by good people, but all the same it is used to nourish the ego. If you search deep inside yourself in those moments when you are giving something to somebody – when pity arises in you upon seeing a beggar, when you get pleasure from being in the position of a giver – you will hear the murmuring voice of your ego. A compassionate person does not want there to be a single beggar on the face of this earth, but a man of pity wants beggars to exist, otherwise he will be in difficulty. Societies based on the concept of pity don’t eradicate begging, they nourish it. If a compassionate society can be created, it won’t be able to tolerate begging – it should not exist! --- Osho. (Excerpt from the book “Osho’s War & Peace: Insight from The Bhagvad Gita.”). Like (3) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago wander P., Jill Poet and 1 other like this wander passion wander wander passion self employed If all of you thinking in CSR running well, then first of all everybody remember your history. You must know about historical achievements. Then everybody forget to do ruled on people. Social Responsibilities wants to peaceful leaving, healthy living and without crime and corruptions in major work. All people want to grow up.. but some of the people not going straight, they do a crime, they want to ruled on the whole world. So where Social Responsibilities work? I heard the African people having troubles from some deases (medical ground) which till date not solve, why? Every country claims we have a best medicines in the world, so where is the country and scientist which can not solve the problem of Africa............ Who can justify that? Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Edlín Maldonado Edlín Edlín Maldonado Grant Writer at CommuniCare Health Centers I'm thankful there are more programs focused on CSR. Currently, I am preparing to enter a MBA program specifically for its focus on CSR and ethical leadership. I am most excited about the Values-Driver Leadership lab. For our communities to grow and be successful, we need to nurture business leaders that do believe in CSR as a way of life and not just as a tool for marketing. For those interested, the program I will begin this fall is the following: https://www.stmarytx.edu/academics/business/greehey-mba/ Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR M. likes this Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC Beautiful people you all are. Last night I received a text from my project manager in Mexico ,he said 75% of the Mexican people are starving. Here's a idea since it is obvious that many companies use CSR for marketing let's educate how easy it could be if the CEO simply opened there eyes between the factories and there 100 dollar a night hotel and $6.00 cocktails. Here are some facts regarding our NEIGHBORING COUNTRY: Wal-Mart in Mexico identical to Wal-Mart in USA pays there workers $50.00 dollars a week for 40-50 hours. Coke Cola controls the water into small villages, all MUST STORE WATER NO WATER AFTER 5 PM.And we in America profess CSR is needed , adopt a program. I can supply many companies with a real CSR constitution! I have worked 40 years in textiles world wide ;TIME FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR ALL INDUSTRIES IN UNITED STATES and world wide. DuPont , Monsanto, Wal-mart , Home Depot , all exploiters of mans inhumanity to man! The people are suffering from government and cooperate greed, and how about that Catholic Church does anyone know if they have a CSR? I will not continue to let children sit outside of the cooperation and churches starving! Create cooperate responsibility; why can't coke build a orphanage? I hope that the generations that follow will carry on and build upon what the pioneers of CSR are working so hard to show this world. Please check out EnviroTextiles CSR if only one small company like mine can build a clinic, buy blenders to make fruit water before 5pm then what is going on in the minds of these cooperation's? 75% OF THE MEXICAN PEOPLE ARE STARVING ! The world needs to hear the words of Ravindra Junagade as he posted above. Like (1) Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Prof Dr Ruswiati SUR M. likes this Jill Poet Jill Jill Poet Helping SMEs become more profitable by embracing ethics and values at the very core of their business operations. Good luck with your MBA Edlin. Looks like a really good programme. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 2 months ago Birendra Raturi Birendra Birendra Raturi International Director, SR Asia CSR shall focus on the most fundamental problem and basics but we are making it so complex such that new business schools and new programs are opening up. Particularly Asia and Africa are not addressing the problem of population rise.. we need control here, I dont know why UN comes out with stringent rules , why someone dare to address the actual problem, due to democratic government no one wants votes to be lost out and thus we are moving from bad to worst... as long as we are going to have more consumers for the less available natural resources new program leaving the root cause aside wont serve the purpose and therefore expect bigger problems on the way... Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 1 month ago Barbara Filippone Barbara Barbara Filippone Founder/ President at EnviroTextiles™, LLC Absolutely correct !!! This is not rocket science! Non Profits are a concern as well. All designers ,engineers, product developers and CEO's must set the example! I am the president / product developer and standard setter for my company. How is a third party able to be hands on through out any development process? As I said many times to others ;just stop on your way back to that 5 star hotel when you see someone in need. Recognize if where and what you are producing is a positive or negative impact ;then care enough to do something! Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 1 month ago Sonia Garrido, MBA Sonia Sonia Garrido, MBA Marketing/Public Relations Professional When I went to school (not that long ago!), the concept of CSR was almost nonexistent, now I am glad to see it as a part of almost business management curriculum! Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 1 month ago Sopon Pornchokchai, PhD D.FIABCI CRS MRICS Sopon Sopon Pornchokchai, PhD D.FIABCI CRS MRICS Board Member, International Advisory Board at The Appraisal Foundation Justice, please. See bad practices at United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). They are really bad. See http://ungc-staff-malpractice.blogspot.com/2011/09/malpractice-and-lack-of-integrity-of.html , Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 3 days ago Shikha Manchanda Shikha Shikha Manchanda Program Assistant at School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University It makes you wonder if CSR is just a farce; big corporations trying to avoid regulation? Look around, what do you really see... do companies really care? Do we trust leadership? I am a believer in CSR, but there is no concrete evidence of real CSR out there. Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 11 hours ago Peter Burgess